Sick
by Sheraven
Summary: Sickness can come in many forms, and when the Teen Titans encounter a vampire, they learn just how bad it can be. Warning: Mature themes including violence, death, suicide and light slash. Complete.
1. Fallen

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or any if its affiliates.

**Sick**

_Chapter One - Fallen_

There were some days Robin just regretted getting out of bed at all. In this case, it had been an entire day of wishing he was still surrounded by his soft cotton sheets and heavy comforter. He'd been up way too late last night playing Mega Monkey Madness 8 and on top of that, had not slept well. He was coming down with something, so he could only breathe through the nostril that was on top, everything moving to the other side when he flipped over. Finally, after tossing and turning for half the night, he took some nighttime cold medicine and promptly fell into a green death flavor-induced coma.

Only a few hours later, first thing in the morning, he had been awakened by Beast Boy crashing into a sleep walking Cyborg right outside his door. Unable to get back to sleep, he dragged himself off the bed, fell into his wrinkled uniform, and crawled into the kitchen to get some hot tea to clear his head. He searched the cupboards but couldn't find any kind of tea at all. Raven, who had been sitting silently on the couch the whole time had read his confusion and piped up, scaring him out of his wits, "I took the last teabag. Sorry." Since his head had started to hurt, Robin sniffled in defeat and forced down a glass of soy milk from the fridge instead.

The longer he was awake, the better he felt, and soon the only symptom of his cold was a slightly scratchy throat. The emergency alarm didn't sound once, so the Titans decided to venture into the chill autumn weather for a little time at the brilliantly colored city park. Starfire was sure the trees were changing colors because they had entered their mating period, which brought an really funny image to mind that got everyone snickering. When Robin laughed, it caused him to sneeze, which in turn made him wipe the dashboard of the T car off with his cape and even Beast Boy got grossed out. Red faced, Robin tried to sink into his seat , he just wanted to go back to bed.

The time at the park was really the only nice time that day. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, kids were playing everywhere and the Titans had a good game of volleyball going. Raven was refereeing, Starfire had agreed not to use her super strength and Cyborg and Beast Boy were throwing some pretty funny jabs back and forth. Robin actually enjoyed himself quite a bit, even though his head felt like it was full of cotton and he could feel a fever coming on. As dusk began to fall, everyone agreed they were starving, so they headed to their favorite corner pizzeria. As much as Robin wanted to eat, nothing tasted right to him, so he only managed to get down one slice.

It was dark when they finished, and Robin could hardly wait to crawl under the covers. It figured that a call would come in just as they pulled into the tower. Transferring to his motorcycle, he raced out of the building with the other Titans not far behind. According to the computer, the police had already found three people in a row suffering from hemorrhagic shock, nearly dying from blood loss. Robin didn't feel up to dealing with a real sicko tonight, but the innocents of Jump City had to be protected. The Titans split up to cover the city more effectively, and Raven was the first to make a sighting. By the time they converged on her location, she was standing alone, staring blankly in fear. It took a couple of tries to get her back to reality, and when she snapped out of it, she seized Starfire by the arms and said, "We have to leave this one…we shouldn't go after this one!"

The Tammaranian flinched under her friend's intense gaze and looked at Robin worriedly. "Do not worry friend Raven, we will capture this bad person." Before she could continue, Raven shook her head and stepped back, allowing her cloak to fall around her.

"If we must," she was much calmer now, "then let's get going." Her eyes glowed as she hovered and surrounded herself with dark energy shaped like a bird. The others began to wonder what could have frightened Raven enough for her to wear energy armor.

Now a bit more subdued, the Titans split up again, this time being more careful in their search. Instead of becoming a blood hound, Beast Boy turned himself into a German shepard, constantly stopping to listen and scent the air. Robin switched the Birdcycle into silent running mode and placed a few more Birdarangs onto his belt. Starfire flew a little higher off the ground, holding green energy bolts ready at her fingertips. Cyborg switched his vision to infrared and shut down any non-essential functions in an effort to preserve as much energy as possible. Raven completely hid herself in her energy and glided silently through the streets, alerting no one to her presence as she looked for the monster she'd crossed paths with.

Robin had already covered an eighth of the large metropolis when he had to stop. His head was pounding and he knew the fever was in full form because he was shivering and sweating at the same time. He popped two cold pills and sat for a moment, trying to force his sickened body to respond as usual. He swayed in his seat and felt a little ill, so he dismounted and dashed for the dumpster in the alley he'd stopped beside. After emptying the contents of his meager dinner into the container, he staggered backwards, bumping into something hard and warm. He whipped around, fists at the ready, only to be swept by a wave of dizziness. This cold was really beginning to cramp his style.

Before him stood a huge black man dressed in black. His head was shorn and Robin could see jagged tattoos covering his scalp. His leather jacket was covered in chains and spikes, and his blue jeans were ripped and holey. The steel toes on his black boots were covered in a sticky red substance, and Robin had no doubt it was blood. Before he could even throw a punch, the teen was slammed up against the brick wall behind him by his throat, and held with his feet dangling ten inches off the ground. The hulking punk leaned forward and seemed to inhale his scent. His voice sounded like stepping on gravel when he spoke, "Ah, the boy wonder at last. I've heard a lot about you."

Robin struggled weakly against the man's hand, but it didn't move an inch. He wanted to shout for help, but he couldn't get any air either. He simply hung there, choking, frantically searching for away out. The man breathed in again and smiled, revealing brilliantly white teeth. Through his darkening vision, Robin did a double take, were those fangs he had just seen? Moving faster than humanly possible, the thug removed his hand and held Robin against the wall by his shoulders. His head darted in and Robin yelped as he felt teeth cut through the sensitive skin on his neck. When he heard the bigger man swallow repeatedly, he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening.

This…wasn't a _vampire_…was it?! This only happened in B movies, not in real life! To his horror, he could no longer move his limbs, or feel them, for that matter. When the man let go, Robin crumpled on the alley floor. He couldn't get the world to stop spinning and he was aware that his body wasn't moving at all. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing. He turned his head toward his cycle, and felt a slight twinge of pain from the bite mark on his neck. Willing every bit of strength he had, Robin tried to reach for the communicator on his belt. As his fingers closed around it, the black man crouched down and smiled, revealing blood-stained teeth and fangs. "Now, now, we can't have you calling your friends," he tisked as he took the device from Robin's hand. Panic began to set in as the teen realized that he might not live through this.

The vampire must have sensed it because he said, "Oh, now don't worry little bird, you won't be leaving just yet." With that, he leaned over the fallen crime fighter and cut his own jugular with a switchblade he'd pulled from his pocket, making sure the foul blood fell right into his victim's mouth. At first, Robin tried to gag, but his body was too weak to even do that. As more of the warm liquid slid down his throat, his body seemed to move with a will of its own, greedily consuming the life-restoring blood. Warmth and strength began to return to his limbs and as soon as he could move, Robin rolled away, trying not to retch in revulsion at what he had just done. He heard a low throated chuckle as the thug stood, wiping the blood from his already healed neck.

He turned toward the dark end of the alley and sauntered away, saying one last thing over his shoulder, "Be seeing you."

The teen's veins lit on fire where the foreign blood coursed through them. He curled into the fetal position as waves of pain crashed through his body. It felt like he was dying, a little piece at a time. He was hurting too much to notice that his communicator had been dropped right next to him; he couldn't get enough of a handle on the pain to use it anyway. The boy wonder screamed and writhed as the agonizing burning reached an unbearable level, falling still as the last of his breath escaped. He was paralyzed with painbut the last thought he had was of the other Titans before his world went dark.

Robin lay dead in the alley.


	2. Discovery

**Sick**

_Chapter Two – Discovery_

Sound came first, the rats scurrying around, trash moving in the breeze, someone crossing the street. The roar of a car driving by was so loud it startled Robin into waking up. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed for the first time that he could see stars in the night sky above him. That was strange, he had never see them over the city before because of the lights. He saw a spider weaving it's web from one rung of the fire escape ladder to the wall and watched the flies buzzing around the dumpster he was crumpled next to. Bringing his attention to the dumpster had also brought its odor into focus. It was so bad, he could smell the individual things in it, like rotting bananas, fish carcasses and even his own dinner he had thrown up earlier.

Holding back a gag, he rolled himself to a sitting position and tried to remember what he was doing on the dirty ground of an unlit alley in the middle of the night. He remembered waking up that morning to Beast Boy and Cyborg, and he remembered the park and the pizza that didn't taste very good. Suddenly, the recollection of his encounter with the thug in black came back to him fully. He looked down and saw blood all over his clothes, still wet. His face was also covered in the sticky, red substance but the bite mark had healed up completely. Not really feeling too bad, Robin stood, testing his balance. Everything seemed fine. He picked up his communicator and signaled the others that he was going back to the tower as he got on his cycle.

None of the other Titans argued with him, they hadn't seen anyone while they were on patrol and Robin's cold must have only deteriorated from earlier in the day. The boy wonder went straight home and into the shower, even though he was starving. Nothing in the tower refrigerator or pantry sounded good as he passed them, so he slept hungry after he scrubbed himself clean. He didn't hear the others come home, in fact, he slept like a stone through the whole night. He awoke a little surprised, he would have thought that with a cold that bad, he would have been awake half the night like the night before. Oh well. He breathed in deeply and was intrigued to find his nose clear. In fact, he could smell the tofu waffles Beast Boy was making downstairs.

After dressing, Robin opened his door and was blinded by the morning sunlight. He backed into his room, shading his eyes and shut the door. He figured the sun was just as the right place to be directly in his eyes when he stood in his doorway, so after his vision had readjusted to his dim room, he opened his door again. This time, the sunlight was not only bright, but it was hot too. So hot, in fact that it burned him! Stumbling back into his room, Robin stared at the blisters on his arm in shock. Something wasn't right, and it got even less right as he watched the injury heal in seconds. It then hit him what he had forgotten last night, that thug had bitten him, hadn't he? Robin's memory brought up the word vampire and he dashed over to the mirror above his sink.

He almost fell over when he saw what was reflected, or rather, what wasn't reflected. He touched the mirror to make sure it wasn't a hologram but it continued to show him a view of the towels hanging on the rack behind him. In disbelief, he picked up his toothbrush and waved it in front of his face. He saw his fingers holding the plastic, but in the reflection, it appeared to be floating on its own. He dropped the toothbrush and staggered backwards as it clattered in the sink. He tripped over his dirty uniform from the night before and fell, arms pinwheeling, hard on his behind. The implications of his new condition were beginning to dawn on him.

He simply could not be what he was thinking, it wasn't possible. Monsters like that don't exist in real life, they are just great movies and stories to frighten children into staying in bed. While he had seen magic, Robin certainly didn't believe in 'creatures of the night' who would die if they met sunlight and were afraid of garlic. The only creature that could subsist on blood alone was a very specific type of bat, and maybe mosquitoes. _People_ weren't like that. Robin's hand darted up to his mouth as he felt his teeth and he was dismayed to find that his canines and incisors had elongated and sharpened. His ears weren't pointy and his fingernails weren't sharp or anything, but his skin did seem to be a lighter color than usual and, most frightening of all, he couldn't find a pulse anywhere on his body. He…he had become a…a vampire.

It took some serious discipline to hold his panic down. He jumped when he heard a knock on his door, then scrambled under the covers. "Hey Robin! You awake man? We got some waffles here for ya!" Cyborg called through the door.

"Uh…n-no thanks guys. I…I'm not feeling too good. I think I'll stay in bed today," he answered back, hoping they accepted the excuse. That was another thing, all signs of his sickness had vanished completely. He was as healthy as he'd ever been. Robin sank down further into the bed.

Starfire's melodious voice came through the wall next, "May we bring you anything to make the healing better? Perhaps some Tamarranian glorflac eel soup?" Sounds of gagging could be heard from the other Titans and Robin cracked a small smile.

"No thanks, Star, I'll be fine. I just need…some rest," he called back.

"Let us know if you need anythi-...hey, those are mine!" Beast Boy chased after Cyborg who was threatening to swallow the changeling's whole plate of tofu goodness. Raven simply stood staring at Robin's door for awhile, she knew something was wrong with him. He was exuding such a strong aura of fear, confusion and darkness that she decided she had to get to the bottom of this. The darkness worried her not because it was evil coming from Robin's room; everyone had a little badness; but because it was the same evil she had encountered the night before.

A normal day passed for the Titans, two muggers, a rapist, and a run-in with a traveling gang of Jokerz made for a good day's work. When they got home after dark, they tried to stay quiet, figuring Robin was trying to sleep his illness off. If only he could, he would have slept until Rip Van Winkle woke up. He could hear everything they were doing, even though they were making very little sound. As soon as the video game had started up after dinner, Raven had quietly drifted to Robin's room. She felt for his presence and when she sensed pain, she didn't hesitate another moment.

Wrapping herself in a black raven of energy, the part-demon dropped into the floor and rose up on the other side of the door. Before her was Robin, curled into a fetal ball on his bed and panting as he fought the pain. His eyes opened as soon as she appeared and he sat up, wincing as he moved. She could tell he was confused, but also dangerous, so she didn't step any closer. "Raven?" he asked weakly.

"Yes, Robin," was her only response, half confirming her presence and half offering comfort.

He looked at her, then dropped his eyes in shame and confusion. "What happened to me? Why am I hurting so much?"

Taking a risk, the pale magician joined him on the edge of the bed, feeling him with her power. He was filled with the evil she'd met last night, but still had his normal shining core of goodness. Her eyes must have conveyed the question, because he answered unbidden, "I think I've been turned into a vampire."

Suddenly, it all made sense. She was the only one who had seen it, but now she understood why he couldn't come out into the daylight that morning. Why he was so confused and in pain. That pain was hunger, and a hunger more intense than either one of them had ever experienced before. All her studying and reading on these creatures suddenly came to mind and she knew that if Robin didn't feed tonight, he would die. She knew he hadn't had any sustenance since he'd been turned, which must have been last night when he got roughed up, and that the first day was the most crucial for a new vampire's survival. Things did not look good.

She noticed him trembling next to her and could feel his gaze on her neck. Suddenly aware that she was the nearest source of food, she stood, facing him. He cringed slightly from the look in her eyes. "You must feed," she stated simply.

"I know, I'm starving, but nothing sounds good," he responded, looking intently at his boots, swaying a little.

"That's because you don't need food, you need - "

Before she could finish, he cut her off, "Not blood! I can't do that…I'm not a killer…I -," Robin looked like he was going to faint.

It was Raven's turn to interrupt him, "You won't kill anyone, but you _will_ die if you don't get blood." The dark witch ran the choices for blood through her mind but found no other suitable option. Suppressing a shudder, Raven enveloped one of Robin's books in magic and threw it at the mirror in the bathroom. When the glass shattered, she caught all the pieces with magic so as not to alert the other Titans. Before she could change her mind, she sent one of the shards zipping over the top of her forearm, cutting a clean and painless line. Blood immediately bloomed from the laceration and she looked pointedly at Robin.

The boy wonder was staring at her in horror, not quite believing what she had just done. He tried to stand up to get her a towel, but couldn't even find the strength to get to his feet. She moved closer to him, kneeling on the floor at his feet. He turned his head away in revulsion, even though the warm blood was singing to him. It was all he could think about, the metallic scent was sweet and his heart beat faster at the thought of tasting it. His fangs grew even longer in his jaws, and a strange sensation overtook him. When he looked back at Raven, his eyes were glowing red. She stiffened, eyes wide, trying to hold down her instinctive need to run. He was suddenly aware that he was also smelling her fear and was ashamed that it aroused him. She swallowed and moved closer, placing her dripping arm in his hands.

Robin looked directly into Raven's violet eyes before hesitantly lowering his lips to the injury. As soon as the blood touched his tongue, he thought it might be more than he could handle. His body reverberated with the song of her blood. It was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted, its warmth filled him and fueled his dark desires. Before he knew what was happening, he had stood, pulling her with him. As he drank, he pressed himself against her, his arousal apparent, and almost caressed her wound with his tongue. Raven was overloaded by the energy he was putting out, and she closed her eyes and let her head fall back as she was taken by his hot excitement. She felt her own lust rise and could tell by the subtle shift in Robin's embrace that he could feel it too.

Carried away by the myriad of sensations, neither one of them stopped him. Robin had never felt this strong. He could somehow tell that he had become physically stronger, and all his senses had sharpened. He inhaled Raven's scent, an intoxicating combination of lavender, incense and desire. He reveled in the feel of her warm body up against his, enjoyed how her curves fit him just right. She drew in a sharp breath when he rocked his hips against her, and a wave of lust enveloped them both. He could even feel her magic. The more he had, the more he wanted. Robin now understood the bloodlust.

He drank until he heard her groan, his attention suddenly snapping back to reality. The shards of mirror she had been suspending in the bathroom fell with a crash. Raven had gone limp in a faint, the loss of blood taking away her ability to remain conscious. He pulled away panting, then stared at her to see if she was still breathing. Rather than see her chest rise and fall, he actually _heard_ her heart beating. It was a little weak, and slower than it should have been, so Robin moved quickly. He immediately hoisted Raven onto his bed, only slightly distracted by the fact that he could lift her so easily, and yanked a towel from the bathroom to stop the bleeding. As he applied pressure, the other Titans banged on his door.

"What was that? Robin! You okay, man?" Cyborg shouted through the door. Hastily wiping the blood from his lips, Robin cinched the towel around her arm, then pulled his door open. Beast Boy came stumbling in first, blanching when he saw Raven lying still on Robin's bed.

"What happened?!" he asked as he took her hand in his.

Robin searched for a response as Cyborg squeezed through the doorway to let Starfire enter. "I…uh…she…w-well, we…"

His mouth snapped shut as Raven's voice came from the bed, "I came into Robin's room to see how he was doing and slipped in the bathroom. I broke the mirror on the way down, I must have hit my head." She sat up. "I'm fine." Raven pulled her hand gently from Beast Boy's grip. She stood and wavered imperceptibly as she undid the towel. There was a thin line of blood, but the injury was gone. Raven had unconsciously used her down time to heal herself. Robin could tell by the smell of her that she was still weak, but didn't argue. Raven had just saved him from the Titans.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Robin turned to meet Beast Boy's gaze. The animal changeling could smell the hormones in the air, and he knew something wasn't right. Raven had not slipped in the bathroom, but when Robin stayed silent, he walked out like everyone else. A low growl escaped from the green Titan, and it surprised even Beast Boy. His animal instincts were reacting to something, and Beast Boy had long ago learned to listen to his animal instincts. Even though things seemed to be normal; Robin was already battling Cyborg in Mega Smash Mayhem 3; Beast Boy had decided to keep a close watch on their leader.

Something wasn't right.


	3. Initiation

**Sick**

_Chapter Three – Initiation_

Robin watched Raven return to her room silently and wondered why she had lied to the others. He had hurt her when he'd drunk from her, so by all rights, she should have the other Titans chasing after him with stakes and torches. While she may have fooled most of the Titans, Robin knew that Beast Boy hadn't been mislead at all. His growl had been far too quiet for anyone to hear except Robin, but he had understood the meaning. Beast Boy was mostly animal, and animals can usually sense evil. He wouldn't be able to keep his new condition from his friends for long. With a heavy heart, Robin came to realize that he would have to leave.

That night, after the others had retired to their bedrooms, Robin sat awake, staring at Jump City's skyline through the picture windows of Titan tower. If he had just been a little sharper, he wouldn't have been caught off guard in the alley, and none of this would be happening. Maybe he should have stayed home, after all, it wasn't like he worked with a group of inexperienced heroes or anything. That damn cold had been the start of it all. Well, at least he would never get sick again…or old, or have to eat, or get to see the sun; his head spun with the enormity of the change.

Before he could get another thought out, there was whisper in his mind, as if something had barely brushed against it. He immediately stood, stepping right up to the glass. It almost felt as if someone was calling his name, but he couldn't quite hear them. More like a child's singsong voice echoing in a fog. He searched the surrounding areas with his eyes, but when he saw nothing, he decided to go out. He felt inexplicably drawn to the voice. After sneaking past the other Titans, he slapped his helmet on and sped out on his Birdcycle, following the calling in his head.

After a few minutes, it felt as if he was riding in a trance. He watched himself merge onto the highway and pass cars at a normal speed, but didn't really feel like he had any control at all. Before he knew it, he was back in that same alley he'd been attacked. This time, Robin hid his bike and held a birdarang in hand as he approached the darkness. He cautiously searched the entire alley but was surprised to find nothing but that nasty dumpster and a dead end. The calling in his mind was more incessant now, and he began to search a little more thoroughly. Again coming up with the same results, he stopped, turned toward whatever was tugging on him and opened his mind.

Immediately, he could feel things he never had before. He sensed Raven reading all the way back in the tower and could suddenly tell that there were others like him, that the attacker they had been chasing the night before was probably not alone. There was a faint scraping noise, and when Robin opened his eyes, a doorway now stood open to him. Without hesitation, he walked inside, not using a light for danger of giving his position away. He followed his hearing and sense of smell, but above all, he was being led by the voice that called to his mind. It was only another moment or two before he stepped into a large underground chamber.

It was as if he had stepped into the upper half of a sphere, the ceiling rising a good thirty feet above his head. Torches burned at regular intervals along the walls, sending shadows dancing everywhere. Between the torches were tapestries that conveyed gruesome scenes of crucifixion, disembodiment and torture. The domed ceiling was covered in masterful paintings, depicting ornate skyscapes of angels fighting one another and dragons flying about. The gold and silver gilding that accented the portraits sparkled in the flickering light. The floor was just as magnificent as the ceiling, showing poses of wolves, bats, spiders and snakes enshrouded in fog.

In the center of the room stood a large stone chalice, bigger and taller than Robin himself. Small tables with knives and goblets were positioned beneath each torch and the air had a heavy, stale feel to it. Before he could turn around, the double doors he had just passed through slammed shut with a resounding echo, trapping the teenager in the room alone. The bowl on the stone chalice in front of him burst into flame, the yellow tongues of flame nearly reaching the ceiling. The intense heat caused him to shield his face and back away, moving toward the closed doors.

Robin had only one moment to consider his escape when a low sound filled the room. It was the same humming sound Tibetan monks made while they meditated. Beginning to not like the situation, Robin turned and bolted for the door, only to crash himself up against strong ironwood. Rather than try again, he walked to the nearest tapestry thinking there might be some kind of secret exit. Just before his gloved fingers reached the fabric, it moved aside on its own and a black hooded figure emerged. Robin stepped back and turned for another of the wall hangings. To his dismay, each of them had someone appearing from the shadows, slowly forming a circle, and still making that low humming sound. Before he knew it, they had him back into the center of the room, right under the burning pillar.

The sound changed suddenly into staccato hisses as a final hooded figure joined the circle, this one dressed all in red the color of blood. The others bowed down, still sounding like snakes until the leader in red clapped once. Immediately, they stood and began humming again, each reaching over to the nearest table to pick up a dagger. Robin was getting seriously creeped out now and decided that it was time to find an exit. Searching for something to use as a weapon, he found nothing, so pulled off his cape and held it above his head to catch on fire. When it had lit, he held it near him and tried to approach one of the tapestries.

A communal hiss rose from those gathered and the one nearest him snatched the cape from his hands faster than he could respond. A low chuckle came from the one in red as Robin was pushed so he staggered and fell backwards. As quick as lightening, the young crime fighter threw two birdarangs directly into the shadow under the red hood and crawled between the two black figures in front of the doors. He heard the sharp metal connect but was confused when that same low chuckle filled the chamber again. Rather than stop and figure it out, he scrambled for latch on the doors but was dragged bodily back into the circle. He felt someone take his utility belt off and tried to fight, but was grossly overpowered.

He was brought to face the one in red, held completely off the floor by many hands. He now understood what the daggers were for; while he was suspended, the hands moved on him constantly, cutting his clothes off, one piece after another. In no time, he was naked, and was placed on his feet in front of the leader. Rather than cower in embarrassment or try to cover himself, he stood tall and defiant, as if nothing was different. His body was firm and toned, it was obvious his time in the gym was paying off. Covering the chiseled muscles was smooth and unblemished skin, pale and firm. The room was beginning to heat up, and a fine sheet of sweat started to cover the boy wonder.

In a movement so sudden it caused him to jump, the one in red stepped close and waved one of Robin's birdarangs in his face. A man's chuckle emerged from under the crimson hood that continued as he walked a slow circle around the naked teenager. When he was directly facing Robin again, the cackle grew louder. The man yanked back his hood and Robin took a step back in horror. His eyes were shocking red, the skin on his face looked like ancient parchment and, worst of all, huge yellowed fangs protruded from his teeth, the same teeth that were clamped over the other birdarang. The piece of metal fell when the cackle grew into hysterical laughter, spraying Robin with foul spittle.

His emotional state quickly approaching terrified, Robin's glace darted around, searching for some way to escape the maniac in front of him. Everywhere, the others in black were pulling back their hoods, revealing equally hideous faces with fangs jutting below cracked lips. He recognized one of them as the black guy who attacked him the alley. As if guided by the same voice, they each picked up the goblet from the little tables and bared the daggers, again advancing on the young man. Robin flipped his wet bangs out of his eyes, the temperature was really rising because of that flaming pillar, and readied himself for hand-to-hand combat.

Before he could get even one punch to connect, the lead vampire bit the tip of his own finger and smeared the blood across Robin's forehead. Dread filled the teenager when he tried to move and found he was completely immobilized by the blood, like a weight had settled on his skeleton that he didn't have the strength to move.

Even though he couldn't move, he could still see, and what Robin watched made his stomach turn. Each vampire stepped up to the frozen crime fighter and cut into his bare forearm, allowing his blood to fill the goblet. Robin gritted his teeth against the biting blades, but made no sound, he didn't want to give them the satisfaction. Then, after the wound had healed, each passed the cup toward the one in red who promptly downed every one. By the time he was finished, he was glowing with power and the simple act of looking down at Robin caused the boy wonder to burn like he was on fire. He tried to battle the sensation, but in the end it won, forcing him to his knees with a grunt of pain. The other vampires hissed again and scrambled to pick him up, holding him parallel to the floor once more.

Robin's head was swimming with the residual pain from the leader's gaze and he knew he had lost enough blood to begin to worry. Sweat was dripping from his hair because of the heat and the monster in red was reaching for him, staring at his naked body while Robin was completely helpless to stop him. The moment struck Robin as so completely ridiculous that he started to laugh. He laughed so hard that the vampires looked at their master for guidance, no one had ever done that before. Rather than interrupt the ceremony, the leader simply placed his hand on Robin's stomach.

The laugh immediately changed to a full throated scream. Under the master's hand, runes and Celtic letters started carving themselves into Robin's fair skin, burning and bleeding as they worked their way across his stomach and chest. Only when he lifted his hand could Robin quiet enough to gasp for air. When the master touched Robin's left leg, the teenager's scream filled the room again. It felt as if these words were writing themselves onto his _soul_; the agony had far surpassed his considerable pain tolerance, so he could do nothing but writhe in their grasp and hope the screaming would help him cope with the pain. It completely enveloped his entire being, and the master wasn't going to stop until he'd marked his entire body.

Many miles away, in the Titan Tower, Raven screamed again, holding her head and thrashing on the floor of her bedroom. Because she had given her blood to Robin, they had become connected through a mental link. It wasn't a very powerful link, but the amount of pain Robin was experiencing was forcing itself into Raven's head because of it's sheer intensity. Beast Boy had broken down the door a few minutes ago and now Starfire and Cyborg were arguing about how best to help her. Once again, she silenced them all by responding first; Raven bolted upright and dashed out the door, leaving the others scratching their heads, scrambling to catch up. As they piled in the T car, Beast Boy asked, "Um, why are we running out in the middle of the night again?"

Starfire joined Beast Boy in the questioning, "And your screaming, and holding of your head…that is better now as well?"

Raven faced a dilemma, she did not want to expose Robin's secret, but she did need to explain what was going on to her comrades. She leaned forward to give directions to Cyborg and then calmed herself. "Robin and I…share a bond. I can feel what he's feeling and he can tell what I'm feeling, I think." Starfire looked devastated, but Beast Boy never took his eyes from those of the sorceress. Even though they were speeding down the street, she had their rapt attention. "All that back in the tower? It was coming from him, he's in mortal danger. If we don't find him soon, we may not find him ever."

"I hear ya, girl, I know where we're goin'. Isn't that the place Robin got beat around last night?" Cyborg let the question hang in the car as he squealed around a corner.

With that, Raven realized they might be facing much more than they bargained for. After the way Robin had fed on her, she figured he'd come straight home, escaping the Initiation Ceremony. From all her readings, there was nothing good about that ritual. Through mind control and physical torture, the new vampire is bonded to the one who made him, a single mark painfully burned into the back of the initiate's neck. She had also passed over mention of a different ceremony for the Chosen One but paid it no heed, that prophecy had passed long ago. Usually, the new vampire is drained of so much blood that he will immediately kill the first to find him for food. This really didn't look good.

Everything was still and quiet when the T car pulled into the deserted alley. Without a word, Cyborg smashed his fist through the false wall, following Robin's tracking signal. As they passed into the lightless tunnel, Raven placed her hand on Starfire's shoulder, preventing her from illuminating the area with a star bolt. Beast Boy transformed into a Great Dane, sniffing along in the dark. When he caught the scent of an enormous quantity of blood, his ears perked and he took off running toward the source.

The other Titans found him growling at the set of double doors, ears laid back, fur bristling and teeth bared. Taking a deep breath, Raven pushed the doors open and immediately fell as she slipped in something. When she looked down at what she landed in, her hands were covered in blood, just like the floor all around her. Starfire pulled Raven to her feet as they stared in shock at the scene before them. Blood had pooled on the floor, it covered the walls and had splattered against the ceiling. A large, stone chalice in the middle of the room still had the red liquid dripping from it and metal goblets that had been filled with blood were scattered on the floor.

In the middle of it all, crumpled at base of the chalice, was a broken and battered Robin, without a stitch of clothing. He was covered in blood and had bruises and cuts all over his body. His naked skin was marked by strange letters and shapes, obviously formed by magic, and Raven could see the ownership mark standing alone on the back of his neck. The blood in his hair was still wet, but Robin lay perfectly still, eyes closed and brow furrowed, as if in pain. Starfire screeched and ran to him, kneeling at his side, wanting to touch him but knowing she shouldn't. Raven joined her and threw blue her cloak over his nudity.

While Beast Boy had stopped growling, his hackles were still raised, and he sniffed around for what might be causing his uneasiness. Cyborg looked downright queasy, his normally dark skin was a couple shades paler and apparently he was doing his best to hold it down. Raven closed her eyes and levitated crossed-legged while she felt for Robin's presence. At first, she was a little worried that there was only nothingness, but then a small seed of fear, confusion, anger, hunger, rage and sadness planted itself in her mind.

Although Robin's body was not moving, his mind was racing. He was still in shock from the amount of pain he had just gone through, figuring that if he had still been alive, he surely would have died from that. He knew he had to feed, there was almost no blood left in his veins, it was all over the room instead,but he didn't have the strength to go seek prey. When Starfire knelt next to him, he was overcome with a hunger so powerful that it dwarfed the one from the night before. He couldn't move much, so he expended his remaining energy opening his eyes. He looked at the living being closest to him and felt the bloodlust begin to take over.

Starfire saw Robin open his eyes and look at her, but she barely had a moment to admire their pale blue color before he looked from her face to her right hip. His eyes turned to a sickening color of red as he sensed where her heart was, he needed her blood and it apparently didn't matter that she was an alien. Beast Boy only had the chance to bark once before Robin lunged at the frightened redhead. Transforming into wolf, Beast Boy knocked Starfire to the side and yelped as Robin's fangs sank into his shoulder. The green lupine growled and threw Robin off, but that little bit of blood had been enough to pull the boy wonder from death's door.

Robin stood and smiled viciously as he licked Beast Boy's blood from his lips. He threw back his head and laughed when Cyborg turned to upchuck and glared at Starfire, enjoying her cowering under his gaze. With a grunt of effort, Robin's bones began to pop as he changed his shape; he dropped to all fours and gritted his teeth through the transformation. In a matter of seconds, he had become a wolf just as fierce as Beast Boy, but black and covered in blood. Robin snarled at him and rushed for the throat the same time Beast Boy moved in.

The fight was on.


	4. Summoning

**Sick**

_Chapter Four – Summoning_

The room was dark and silent, except for the occasional beep from the monitor. Beast Boy and Robin laid side by side in the infirmary, but only one of them was awake. The other was restrained by heavy leather straps to the bed. As he lay in the quiet, trying not to put weight on his gashed back, Beast Boy stared at the sedated countenance of their leader. The only way to break to two up had been for Starfire to push the stone chalice on top of them. Beast Boy had barely squeaked out of the way when the heavy pillar came crashing down on the black wolf. In his unconsciousness, Robin had returned to his humanoid form, marked by Beast Boy's claws and fangs.

As the green teenager saw things, it was completely unfair; Robin's wounds had already healed but the changeling was forced to let them heal the old fashioned way. Beast Boy sighed and tried not to think that he might go insane in the dark; even though it was full daylight outside, the windows had been covered so Robin wouldn't spontaneously combust. The animal changeling had been laying in the same position for ten hours and was positive certain parts of his body simply wouldn't work the way they had before. His entire right half had been numb since breakfast. No one had come to visit either, they were too busy trying to decide what to do. That didn't mean the he was alone in a room with a blood crazy movie monster unsupervised though, the incessant beeping of the security monitor reminded him of that. He tried to roll over and gasped at the sudden bolt of pain from the fang punctures in his thigh.

Robin moved slightly as Beast Boy involuntarily sat up to cradle the wound, which caused the claw marks on his back to re-open. He let out a quiet yelp as the gashes broke open and Robin made the exact same yelp, trying to sit up. He looked immediately at Beast Boy and said, "Hey! Cut that out, will ya?"

"What do you - ?" before he could finish the sentence, the changeling remembered what Raven had said in the car. She and he shared a bond…did that mean the now he and Robin shared that bond too? He thought for a moment while gently lowering himself back to the sheets and balked when his realization hit home. If Robin could feel him, it was because he had taken some of his blood, and if he could feel Raven, it was because she had fed him as well. How long had he been this way?! He couldn't restrain himself any longer, he had to ask, "Dude, what happened?"

While that was a pretty open-ended question, Robin knew exactly what Beast Boy meant. How had his life been turned completely upside down in the span of only 48 hours? He had already recounted the story about the man in black in the alley and how he went back there because of the voice in his mind, but had left out the Raven feeding part. He turned his head, trying to act as if he was not restrained tightly to the bed, "I'm not really sure, it seems like a bad dream. One day, everything is normal, the next, I have become something I didn't even believe in. I have no idea what's going to happen next, and frankly," he paused, weighing his next words, "I'm a little worried."

Beast Boy nearly fell out of the bed when he heard that. He had never, even once, heard Robin admit to any kind of fear at all. He was the recklessly fearless one, the one to lead because he couldn't be intimidated by anything or anyone. They had seen him fight until he could have died, never giving an inch, and now he had just admitted to an emotion that could shake his whole foundation. Perhaps it was time to get concerned. Robin must have seen the look on Beast Boy's face because he added, "Don't sweat it, we'll get to the bottom of this, I'm not done yet." The two young men exchanged nervous smiles.

Both breathed a sigh of relief when the door slid open to reveal the other three Titans. Raven stepped up to Beast Boy and placed her hands gently on his shoulders. Before he could even ask, she had closed her eyes and started chanting, "Azarath, metrion, zynthos…azarath, metrion, zynthos." Beneath her hands, black energy began to flow into the changeling, forcing his injuries to knit and heal. He flinched under the spell, but was grateful when she finished, only minor marks were left were muscle rending tears had been only moments ago.

He stood and cautiously tested his skin by stretching and bending, when it passed his inspection, he turned on the unsuspecting Raven and wrapped around her in a hug. "Thanks, chica! I feel great!"

Starfire tried not to giggle at the sour face the witch made as she peeled him off, but her mood was abruptly sobered when she looked back at their leader. He also was trying to contain a smile, but he could only lift his head up to watch, the rest of him was firmly strapped down. "Oh, how I wish you did not have to be restrained so!" she lamented as she stood near his bed.

Cyborg laid a massive hand on her petite shoulder and said, "I know, I don't like it either, but you know why we have to." Starfire looked at the ground, and nodded. Cyborg moved to one of the monitoring panels and started typing. He addressed Robin, "We know you gotta eat, but the shipment won't be here for another three hours. Think you can make it?"

Robin and Beast Boy both cocked their heads to the side in askance. "Shipment?"

"Yes, friend Robin, from the Kent Foundation Blood Center in Gotham," Starfire looked hopeful, "that will take away your hunger, will it not?"

Cyborg looked a little queasy, so Robin didn't hesitate to answer, "Yeah, thanks."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence while the Titans racked their brains for something to lighten the mood. Robin laid back and cracked his neck turning his head to each side. It was then that Raven noticed the mark on the back of his neck. It was different than before. She walked over and touched it, almost as if to confirm that her eyes had seen correctly. Robin tried to look at her but she stayed him with her hand. Her research had shown that the only reason a mark would change would be to match the changing power of the vampire's maker. Something must be happening. As an experiment, she charged her fingers with dark magic and touched the mark again. This time, both of them cried out; Raven pulled her hand back defensively, staring at the burn on her fingers.

"This is a bad sign," she stated, "the mark has turned evil." Robin closed one eye as the pain of the burn washed over him, then blinked a couple of times. She faced him, "You said you saw the one who made you in that room last night?" At his nod, she continued, "He was the one that put the marks on you, right?" When he shook his head no, Raven's brow creased. "Who marked you?"

Robin sat silent for a moment as he tried to summon the details from his pain hazed memory. "All I can remember is that the leader put some of his blood on my forehead and I couldn't move, after that…I was held down and whenever he would touch me, it was like I was on fire. When it was all done, I had the marks. I guess it was the one in red that did it."

Raven didn't let it show on the outside, but on the inside she was screaming. The initiation ceremony she had skipped over in her reading, the one done to the Chosen One, involved the master marking the vampire instead of the one who made him. It also involved marks all over the body instead of just the back of the neck. She would have to check for more information, but if she was right, the end of the world was right around the corner. A bulb out in the hallway burst. "We might be in trouble." Without another word, she sank through the floor to continue her research.

"Um…what does that mean?" Beast Boy asked.

Before anyone could respond, the power to the entire tower flickered out, leaving them in complete darkness. Robin groaned on the bed and arched against the restraints as the marks on his skin began to glow with an unearthly blue light. The brighter they glowed, the harder he gritted his teeth against the discomfort. Soon, the light was bright enough so the other Titan's could see each other's faces. Robin let a small moan slip before his body snapped ridged under the straps, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were also glowing, and he began to float up, straining against the straps. The leather creaked, then broke, allowing him to float off the bed and rotate to an upright position.

In her room, Raven dropped the book she had been studying and immediately cocooned herself in black energy when the lights went out. She could feel Robin calling to her, trying to summon her with a magic much more powerful than she had seen in a long time. She felt compelled to respond, her body suddenly filled with a longing for his embrace so powerful that it forced a gasp from her. A blue light filled her room and transparent tendrils caressed everything, searching for her. As soon as one of the filaments made contact with her shield, the room brightened with blue energy. There were a few feeble attempts to break her magic, but when they were unsuccessful, the blue mist wrapped around her, cocoon and all, and carried her to the infirmary. As much as she didn't want to go, there was no way she was going to come out of her ethereal shell.

The sight Raven was confronted with as she entered the medical unit filled her with dread. Beast Boy was laying on the ground, panting as if he had just run a marathon, holding his neck where dark blood ran from under his fingers. Cyborg had been affected by the power outage as well, so he was immobilized, the mechanical half of his body rooting him to the spot. His natural eye was wide as he stared at the levitating vampire and who floated with him. Under Robin's compliance spell, Starfire laid docile in his embrace, turned on her side so as to expose the artery that ran to her heart.

Fully intending to steal the alien from his arms, Raven took a deep breath and chanted, readying herself to strike out at her dear friend. She pushed against the blue magic and was a little surprised to find that it didn't budge at all. It appeared she was trapped in her cocoon. Robin's eyes changed from glowing blue to glowing red and he lifted Starfire to his mouth. With a wicked look at the captured witch, he gently slid his fangs into the alien's side, mere inches away from her hip where her heart lay. Raven cringed as Starfire let out a moan, she knew what was happening. It was the same when Robin had fed on her.

Through powers probably unknown to even him, Robin could fill the one he was feeding from with any emotion he chose. Apparently, with Beast Boy, and probably all males, there was a rivalry, so the poor men he bit would feel pain the same way the women would feel pleasure. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks and she arched a little in his arms, most likely her first, Earthly experience of sexual pleasure and desire. His own gratification showed on his face, his masked eyes were closed, he was flushed and the way he held his victim was almost tender. Raven felt an irrational surge of jealousy that caused her black bubble to push against the vampiric magic.

That broke Robin's spell, and as Starfire's consciousness returned, he pulled his fangs from her and gently laid her on the floor. He smirked when Raven pushed again, then went rigid as the blue magic took over again. Robin threw his head back and screamed, light emerging from his eyes and mouth. As abruptly as it all began, it ended. His scream faded into a gargle and he fell to his hands and knees, the blue magic completely dispersing. Power returned to Titan Tower and as the lights came up, Robin coughed and gagged as if he was sick. After a mighty heave, four objects fell from his mouth and he collapsed face down in a faint.

Cyborg shook his head to clear it after rebooting his systems and then slapped his hand over the bite marks on his neck. "Oww!"

Raven burst her bubble and immediately knelt at Starfire's side. She was breathing, but very quietly. Again chanting, the witch levitated her friend onto a med bed and placed a healing spell on her. The alien was resilient and it wouldn't take long for her to recover. A weak groan emerged from the floor and immediately the three standing Titans turned on the sound. Cyborg pointed his charged cannon at their weak leader, Raven held handfuls of black energy and Beast Boy turned into a crocodile, advancing slowly. Robin sat up and placed a green gloved hand on his head, a single drop of Starfire's bright yellow blood sliding from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up at Raven in a daze and tried to stand. Beast Boy immediately transformed into a giant anaconda and enveloped Robin in his coils, restraining him. The boy wonder looked around in confusion, "What are you doing? Why am I…ungh," his words were cut off as Beast Boy squeezed, hissing.

"That's enough, man!" Cyborg yelled, not lowering his canon. "Quit pretending you don't know what's goin' on!"

Robin wanted to respond but Beast Boy was holding him too tightly for him to do anything other than concentrate on breathing. Raven bent to pick up the objects Robin had thrown up, examining them closely. They appeared to be glyphs, and after a moment, she said, "I bet I know what these match." She held one up to the mark on the back of Robin's neck and they were identical.

"What are those?" Starfire asked from the bed, sitting up and holding a hand to the healing wound on her side.

"I don't know." Raven turned to show her when they leaped from her hand. They flew straight to each Titan, planting themselves firmly against the skin on the back of each of their necks. There was a blue flash that brought an exclamation of pain from each of them, then the glyphs broke apart, the pieces falling to the ground. Beast Boy bared his fangs at Robin and tightened his coils even more, forcing the vampire to remain perfectly motionless. On each of them, there was now a burn mark that matched Robin's. Raven tried to heal hers, but she was stung again the same way as when she had touched Robin's mark before. "This is bad."

"Explain, friend Raven," the alien asked.

"That was the third Summoning in the Prophecy of Krimjehf. I thought it had passed a long time ago, but apparently I was wrong." She waited until prompted to continue. "Only three more Summonings until the hand of Krimjehf closes around the earth…there will be no more sun, darkness will reign." Raven could tell by their expectant faces that the other Titans did not understand the magnitude of her last statement. "It will be nighttime forever, life as we know it will end."

One of Robin's ribs cracked under the snake's pressure.


	5. Bequeathal

**Sick**

_Chapter Five – Bequeathal_

Robin walked down a long, dark tunnel, his loud footsteps echoing off the bare walls. At the end of the tunnel was a light that beckoned him with its warmth, so he picked up his pace. The light didn't seem to get any closer, but he could see a sunny park with his teammates laughing around a drenched and drooping Beast Boy. He broke into a run, but the light stayed the same distance away. He desperately wanted to join them in their fun, it felt like he hadn't hung out with them in years. A smile spread across his face when Beast Boy morphed into a dog and shook off, spraying everyone with the water.

Then something subtle changed, as if the innocence of the scene abruptly melted away, no longer protecting his merry teammates. Helpless to do anything but continue running, he watched a shadow pass over his friends and started when lightening struck. Each of them began to take cover while still giggling. A drop fell from the sky, then another and another, soon it was raining. But it wasn't water, it was blood, boiling, searing blood. His friends' laughter turned into terrified screams as the blood began to burn their skin.

Robin sprinted as fast as he could but got no closer. Directly beside him, the tunnel wall exploded inward in a shower of bricks and dust. He stumbled and rolled, only to stand up right in the face of the vampire in red who had tortured him the night before. An irrational fear gripped him and he locked up, falling backwards. He was too frightened to reach for a birdarang or shout for help or even raise his arm to protect his face, so Robin knew it wasn't natural. He could feel the vampire imposing the fear on him, the oily coils of the master's mind settling on Robin's emotions and forcing terror on him. The one in red moved with superhuman speed and jammed his fangs into the side of Robin's neck, eliciting a surprised yelp from the teenager. The vampire drank until Robin was sure death was standing over him, then stood up, leaving the crime fighter on the ground.

The master threw back his head and laughed, Robin's blood still spilling down his chin. As unnaturally terrified of the larger man Robin was, he couldn't keep his dimming sight from drifting back to his friends at the end of the tunnel. It had stopped raining, but each of them was writhing on the steaming, blood soaked grass in agony. He tried to reach for them but only a weak whimper came out with the effort to move his arm. At this, the master looked down and seized the teenager by the throat. Robin was far too weak to do anything but dangle in his grasp, gasping for air, slowly strangling. The master vampire pulled him close and hissed, "Do you want to die?"

The boy wonder couldn't even draw a breath past the clawed hand to answer. His change into a vampire had turned his life completely topsy-turvy and for the first time, Robin was having some doubts as to whether he could handle it. He had actually taken blood from each of his friends, had apparently marked each one of them as his and was eventually going to be the cause of the end of the world. He was completely powerless to stop the events around him or even defend against the maniac crushing him, so the idea occurred that it might be okay to call the vampire on his bluff. If he were gone, he wouldn't be able to hurt his dearest friends anymore, and the world could go on living in the sunlight as it always had. Rather than answer, Robin only closed his eyes in resignation.

The master hissed in disappointment, "Oh come now, little bird, I thought you'd be tougher than that," he tightened his grip and brought his grotesque face within in an inch of the strangling teenager. Whether it was through mind reading powers or simply knowing his opponent's personality, the vampire said exactly what it took to make Robin fight. "You want to leave your friends in my care?"

Although white spots were dancing before his eyes and the blood was rushing in his ears, Robin managed to pull a blast disk from his belt. He charged it and weakly tossed it at their feet. The two of them blew apart, but somehow, the vampire wasn't even phased. Robin lay panting on the ground from loss of blood, wanting to recoil when the master approached but completely unable to move. The master cut himself the same way the thug in the alley had and forced his thick, bitter blood down Robin's throat. It burned like lava going down but he swallowed it against his will.

Immediately, his mind was filled with strange images flashing by as if he was sitting on a train and observing them at high speeds. An old vampire was laying on the ground and sadly reaching for the moon as he was staked to death; a young maiden vampire was feeding on a young man; that same young man changed into a vampire and screamed as he burned at the stake; a burned and blackened carcass crawled toward a cradle with a cooing infant; the young vampire aged and became an elder; the elder read from a giant tome; the Chosen One was found and turned; the Chosen One was sacrificed in an elaborate magic ceremony; a horrible black creature emerged from the magic circle and covered the earth; and the last image was of all Robin's friends bleeding to death.

Although he had never even read about anything like this before, Robin understood what was happening. He had just witnessed the abbreviated history of the master vampire, not only receiving his memories and powers, but also his knowledge of the coming rite. He knew what had been done in preparation and how he had been chosen and also knew what was coming. Every intimate detail of bringing forth the hand of Krimjehf planted itself into his brain, filling him with dread and disgust. Robin screamed as the images burned themselves into his head and rolled to his side to vomit.

By the time he felt better, Robin could have sworn he had taken over the master's body. He could hear and smell things a million times more sharply, but most importantly, he could see his friends still drowning in blood. He was a little surprised to find himself alone in the hallway again, but he shrugged it off and ran with supernatural speed toward the other Titans. Again to his surprise, he finally made it and stepped out of the black tunnel into a bloody puddle. The sky had been blackened by the unnatural storm clouds and a nice red mist hung in the air. He felt the bloodsong surge and knew his new fangs had grown longer.

With red eyes glowing, he looked down to see Starfire crawling toward him, hand reaching out and lips moving as if she was saying something. He strained to hear what she said but he couldn't understand the Tamerranian. As soon as she got within arm's reach, he yanked her into his arms and succumbed to the bloodlust, tearing into her side, reveling as her hot yellow blood sprayed all over his face. While he couldn't understand what she had been saying only a moment ago, her screams were quite clear. The more he tore at her, the more aroused he became. Before he knew what he had done, he had pulled her still beating heart from her hip.

After the alien had gone limp in his arms, he turned to Cyborg who, like the others, had been trying to crawl away. Robin couldn't help but laugh at their pathetic attempts to save themselves. With a strength he didn't know he had, Robin yanked the robotic limbs from the man one by one, and when he was just a torso, drank. He somehow understood that the pain Cyborg was feeling made his blood a delicious tart flavor, and Robin drank until the black man stopped moving. Rather than let his heart stop beating in his chest, the masked vampire punched through the metal plating and ripped his heart out, one of the few organs that had not been replaced with bionics.

Beast Boy was a bit more of a challenge, he had mustered the last of his strength to turn into a cockroach and scurry under one of Cyborg's severed legs. Robin closed his eyes and concentrated all his power on forcing Beast Boy to reveal himself. It was only a few moments later that the animorph involuntarily popped back into his human form, screaming for mercy. Robin cackled as he held the green Titan down and drained him, this time taking a delicate bite from the extracted changeling's heart. The meat was delectable and while he could eat it all day, but he decided to save his grisly collection for later.

He had saved the best for last, and he felt a surge of pleasure when he saw Raven. She was not crawling away or pleading, but simply laying in the burning blood, a blank expression on her face. He could tell she had already tried her magic and found it inept, so had decided to accept her death and face it with dignity. He couldn't wait to get his teeth in her. Instead of picking her up and rending her in his own arms, he knelt down over the witch and took his time. He breathed in her scent and was delighted to find it was strong with fear. It was one of the most stimulating things he'd ever smelled. He turned her head and gently brushed his fangs along her neck, intoxicated by the sudden change from fear to terror in her scent.

He broke her skin almost tenderly, but then drank like a lion, fiercely drawing the blood out. She whimpered under his grip and he moaned in pleasure. Raven knew she was close to death, so she whispered the last plea she could think of, "Robin, please…"

At her soft words, spoken in her darkest moments of desperation, he went crazy with pleasure. As her heart stopped, he orgasmed, still holding her in his fangs and pressing himself up against her. He groaned into her hair and then pulled his head back, overcome by pleasure. As he pulled it from her broken chest, he held her heart as the most prized of all.

Licking his lips and readjusting his tight pants, Robin sat on Cyborg's broken metal chest, laying all the hearts out in a row. He had not just enjoyed killing his friends, he had _loved_ it. As he looked at his collection, he was overcome with the giggles. The giggles soon turned into cackles and then into gales of maniacal laughter. He was stronger than all of them and had shown them who was dominant. He had taken their sweet life essences and was incredibly powerful, more powerful than he had ever been before. He laughed until he thought he might die.

Robin awoke screaming, sweat pouring off his body, just like each other Titan. He calmed himself a little and sat panting, staring at the empty intravenous blood bags on his nightstand, stunned at the vividness of the dream. He felt wetness between his legs and couldn't keep his cheeks from burning in shame. He leapt up in a sudden fit of energy and tore the sheets from his bed, barely pausing long enough to throw a robe on before he practically bolted from his room, heading for the laundry. As soon as he emerged, he nearly fell over in shock.

The other Titans stood, gathered in a group, holding their hands to their chests, as if protecting their hearts. Each one of them had the wide-eyed panic look about them, and Beast Boy even cowered a little when Robin made eye contact with him. Cyborg was trembling and Starfire kept her eyes on the floor. All that wasn't the shocking part though.

It was the fact that they were covered in blood from head to toe.


	6. Release

**Sick**

_Chapter Six - Release_

Robin sat in the quiet, contemplating the new turns in his life. It was completely understandable that they had practically fled in terror after that dream. Heck, even Robin wanted to run away from what was happening. The fact that he had enjoyed killing his friends in the dream still made him queasy, but before he could throw up for the second time that night, he pushed all thoughts of his dream away. While most dreams would lose their impact after waking, not a single detail had faded from his memory, including all the information on the coming ceremony and what it meant. Robin really _was_ going to be the end of the world; he was exactly what the vampires had been waiting for.

Before coming up to the roof, Robin had placed a clandestine call to his mentor and friend, Batman. He had described the events in his life and asked for guidance, point blank. The Dark Knight had promised to search for answers on his end, but had remained ominously tight-lipped about the whole affair. Robin had been around him long enough to know that if Batman didn't have something optimistic to say, he wouldn't say anything at all. The silence on the other end of the secure line scared Robin more than anything. He had simply pursed his lips in understanding, thanked his one-time partner and signed off. One way or another, this had to come to an end.

A sudden gust of sea scented air threw back his hair and cape, making him blink. Just after the sun set and before it rose, the wind would always pick up around Titan Tower; the changing temperature of the water stirring up the air currents. Robin chewed absently on a toothpick as he sifted through his newly bequeathed knowledge of the Bringing of Krimjehf, looking for anything that may have been different from the prophecy. Unfortunately, everything was going exactly according to plan.

The writings in the Necronomicon had foreseen a human, the Chosen One, who would surround himself with all kinds of magics. When the human had reached his fifteenth year, he would be turned and marked, to be sired indirectly by a master vampire. At the coming of the blood moon, on the anniversary of the Chosen One's birth, he would then take the magics surrounding him into himself and fill the sacred chalice with his blood. With the Chosen One's sacrifice would come the rebirth of Krimjehf, god of the vampires. The sun would never again rise to burn his children, and they would always be alive and powerful. Mankind would be enslaved and vampires would rule.

Robin had surrounded himself with something similar to magic, all the special abilities of the other Titans. There was a lunar eclipse the next night, which also happened to be the same day he turned sixteen. He had not been turned by the master himself, but had been marked by him, exactly as the prediction had foreseen. He had also marked and therefore bound his friends to himself, making his access to their magics nice and convenient. He knew what and where the sacred chalice was and he knew that he was completely powerless to resist the mind control of the master vampire. If he was breathing, he was fulfilling that damn prophesy.

At the thought of everyone he had ever known becoming nothing but cattle and amusement for the vampires, Robin felt ill again. Once again, he pushed those thoughts away. None of that was going to happen, because he was not going to be there to fill the sacred chalice. If he didn't spill his blood, Krimjehf could not come to life, and if that horrible god was not called into being, everything would be alright. That was the reason he was on the roof of Titan Tower leaning into the breeze. He had to stop the prophesy. Another gust pushed at the crime fighter and he breathed in deeply, savoring the salty scent.

He heard footsteps climbing the stairs and he composed himself, this was no time to be showing weakness. The rooftop hatch opened with a creak and was shut quietly, the visitor making no noise. A soft touch on his mind was Raven's way of announcing herself and asking permission to join him. He didn't respond, but sat chewing on the toothpick and staring out toward the horizon. She sat down beside him and looked out over the black waters with him. They were facing east, and the stars had already begun to fade. For many minutes they sat in silence, sharing one another's company. Finally, Raven broke the silence.

"No one was really hurt," she started, "after you left, we figured out that the blood wasn't any of ours." She omitted the fact that they didn't know exactly how the blood had covered each of them or where it had come from. Robin simply nodded in acknowledgement, not removing his eyes from the horizon. A dark blue line had appeared above the water, foreshadowing the approaching dawn. "You don't have to do this, you know." Raven didn't know if she was making a statement or a plea.

"Yes I do, and you know why. You more than any of the others." She couldn't argue with that, but Robin could tell she didn't want to accept it.

"We don't even know where the chalice is, so -"

Robin cut her off with a quiet, "I do." They sat in silence once more, watching the dark blue become a shade lighter. The wind gusted again and Robin pulled the chewed piece of wood from his teeth, facing Raven abruptly. "Raven, I…" his words caught in his throat, "I…don't think I can do this…I-I'm...scared." The last word was spoken so softly that Raven had to strain to hear him. Robin pulled off his ever-present mask and looked at her with brilliant blue eyes.

Her heart seized when she saw the sheer desperation in those cerulean depths so she hesitantly reached to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. He needed her touch more than anything at that moment, but pulled away, not wanting to frighten her. Raven understood that he was keeping himself distant from the Titans because he couldn't control his actions sometimes, but she couldn't stand to see him so lost. Before he could do anything, she wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder and holding him tightly.

He stiffened and resisted, but only for a moment before his long pent up emotions overwhelmed him. He embraced her and buried his face in her shoulder, sobs wracking his body. "Oh god Raven, what do I do?" his voice was muffled against her shoulder. Waves of his pain, fear, confusion, helplessness, anger and desperation washed over her, drawing a single tear down her cheek. She could only hold him tighter in answer.

In the floors below, each of the Titans felt his sorrow as keenly as he did. Beast Boy dropped the tofu he was working with, sinking to his knees in the kitchen, head in his hands. Cyborg tossed and turned on the recharging table, his human mind filled with a grief his bionic half simply could not understand. Alone in her room, Starfire sat facing her window, staring out over the lightening sky. Tears streamed down her face as she hugged her knees to her chest, gently rocking in an effort to comfort herself. All of the Titans knew what Robin was doing on the rooftop, what he was waiting for, and none of them could argue with his logic.

Robin let all his emotions out, for once relying completely on another to take care of him. As he wept, he realized he had never felt so vulnerable in his life and was completely terrified of what was going to happen. He knew he had made the right choice, but the thought of what was coming scared him completely out of his wits. While he had faced death almost on a daily basis before, he had never really thought that he might lose to it. Now, death was the only option. He could keep his friends safe by staying on the roof, or he could die by fulfilling the prophesy and bring an end to the world. He was blocked into a corner that he couldn't fight, think or talk his way out of and he was truly frightened.

When he could cry no more, he stilled and simply held Raven close, the one who had stayed with him the whole time. She had never been too intimidated to keep an eye on him, she had kept him alive with her blood that first night and she was there now, comforting him in his moment of despair. He took a deep breath to clear his mind and noticed how sweet Raven smelled when she was sad. A warning bell went off in his head but before he could curb himself, he felt his fangs grow longer once again. Her heartbeat rang in his ears and his eyes were involuntarily drawn to the artery on her neck.

Robin clamped his teeth shut and turned away, breaking the embrace. Could he not have control...for even the last moments of his life? A heavy sense of self-loathing settled on the boy wonder and he faced east once more. Fighting the bloodlust, he swallowed and managed a gruff, "Thanks, Raven."

At first, the witch was confused as to why he had pulled away, but then saw him struggle with his vampiric nature. She gave him a few minutes to compose himself, then placed a gentle hand on his cheek, forcing him to face her. Instead of the breathtaking blue that had been there before was a gruesome shade of red, the maroon color of blood. Raven kept her violet eyes on his and moved closer, indulging her feelings for once. Without saying a word, she leaned in and gently touched her lips to his, letting him lead. She was worried he might pull away, but all her fears were laid to rest when he kissed her back fiercely, desperately.

It was as if each of them had been holding a weight they were unaware of and by releasing their passion, the weight had been lifted. Robin brushed his tongue gently over Raven's lips, begging for entry and she parted them, drawing him toward her. Soon, they were both so lost in the kiss that neither noticed when Robin's fangs cut her and blood trickled between them. Raven kissed particularly aggressively then pulled away, her hands on either side of his face. They both panted a bit as she kissed her blood off his lips, a tear sliding down her cheek. The entire sky was blue and the sun was about to break the horizon.

Robin understood, nodding as he stood and pushed her away from him. She backed away, the most difficult three steps she had ever taken. He closed his eyes, trying to prepare himself for what was to come, and when he looked at her again, the other Titans stood with her. Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg and Raven were all there with him, and in a strange way, it gave him strength. Each of their faces were shining in the windy predawn light, no one ashamed of their tears. Robin mustered a smile as he slipped his mask over his blue eyes and turned to face the cleansing light of dawn, holding his arms out.

The sun crested the horizon.


	7. Caged

**Sick**

_Chapter Seven - Caged_

As the first brilliant rays of the sun touched him, Robin screamed, held completely paralyzed in agony. It was worse than anything he had ever experienced, even more than the marks the master had burned into him. It felt like napalm was covering his entire body, scorching the skin from his bones, boiling his blood. Peripherally, he heard Starfire cry out, his pain passing to each of them through the mental link. He knew he was dying but was so overwhelmed by the pain that he didn't notice when his cry turned from expressing pain to begging for mercy from it. He began to smell his flesh cooking in the burning sunlight and screamed again, a sob breaking the sound. The time had come to die.

Robin was so overwhelmed by the intense agony that he didn't notice that he had burst into flames. The fire licked at his hair and face as his undead body continued to lose the battle with the sun. Beside him, the other Titans had fallen to the ground in their own fight with the pain. Beast Boy and Raven had already passed out, and Starfire had begun to chant in Tammeranian, her eyes glowing green with her effort to control the misery. Cyborg was doing his best to keep his concentration on his cybernetic half, but could not stay on his feet. When Starfire finally blacked out, Robin's full agony was concentrated on him and he fell to the concrete, gritting his teeth against the vicarious burn. The last thing Cyborg saw before his system shut down was a dark figure knock Robin off the roof of the tower. The half man half machine fainted before he could even reach for his dying friend, succumbing to the blissful and painless release of unconsciousness.

When the figure touched him to push him from the roof, it was like adding fuel to the fire. New, hot pain bloomed where the other touched him, and it hurt so much that Robin couldn't even scream any more. He simply let the jagged needles of pain from the wind cut through him as he fell, hoping the end would come soon. When he hit the surface, he was released from his torture as the icy water extinguished the flames and protected him from the sun's light. But with it's protection came a new danger; in the sudden change from the most mind-wrenching pain to complete stillness and darkness, Robin's overloaded brain just shut down, and he began to drown.

The dark figure that had pushed him hit the surface just after he did, swimming down toward the destroyed crime fighter. Robin's struggles to get to the surface were weak at first, then faded away completely as he gave up. The boy wonder sank slowly, water filling his lungs, grateful it was all over. His life had become nothing but torture and blood and he was glad it had ended. He closed his eyes, feeling the water flow over his damaged flesh, and let the blackness of death take him. The dark figure scooped the drowned boy up and kicked for the surface, meeting the craft that was suddenly there. Before any of the Titans had awakened on the rooftop, Robin's body was taken away.

It was only when the fire consuming their friend had been quenched by the ocean that the others woke. One by one, they sat up and blinked in the bright morning light, trying to digest the enormity of what had just happened. Each of them turned their gaze toward the spot Robin had been standing but could only sit motionless when they saw nothing but the smooth surface of the rooftop. Before he could stop himself, Beast Boy morphed into a wolf and threw back his head in a long, mournful howl, reflecting the sentiments of his teammates quite eloquently. Cyborg gathered the weeping Starfire into his arms and let his tears fall silently as he held her, her warmth comforting him as well.

Overcome by grief at the loss of her friend, Raven unknowingly loosed a giant black bird of energy that flew straight up and burst into a thousand shards, it's anguished cry echoing in the quiet morning. She stepped to the edge of the roof and looked directly into the sun, wishing she could burn the image of Robin on fire from her mind. She knew Robin's horrible death would stay with her forever, her last memory of him of his skin burning off and his hair on fire. Tears welled up and she did her best to control them, but Beast Boy's howling and Starfire in the background forced her grief on her. She fell to her knees, head bowed, and let the burning tears out, sending her sorrow-born destructive energy into the water below. One black ethereal bird after another dove into the waters, crushing rocks and seaweed in their talons, rending fish with their beaks.

Far from the tower, the dark figure cradled Robin's body in an almost fatherly embrace, holding him gently as he worked the controls. Batman fought his own emotions as he guided the speeding Batwing back toward Gotham, keeping the tint on the windows heavy and dark. He had seen his young ward conquer much adversity, and take hits before, but nothing compared to what had just happened on the rooftop. After Robin's call, he had tried to get to Jump City as fast as he could; he knew he wouldn't make it before dawn; but the last thing he expected to see was his longtime friend and partner ablaze. Hearing the agony in Robin's cry had wrenched even the usually stoic Dark Knight's heart, cementing his decision to risk the end of the world for his protégé.

Batman was upset, angry that Robin had been forced into doing what he had. There was no way Robin could be allowed to spill his blood for Krimjehf, but that didn't mean he had to die. While it wasn't written in the prophesy, he had learned that it was expected that the Chosen One would try to end his life, although not by the means Robin had. It was believed among those in the know that the new vampire would try to stake himself, or shoot himself with a silver bullet, neither of which really worked. Batman was almost sure that the master vampire had not bet on Robin going with the most painful, and only permanent, method of facing the dawn. He wasn't sure, but his ward may have succeeded.

Once in the Batcave, he placed Robin's lifeless and mangled body on the med bed and looked over the younger man carefully. Alfred emerged from a secret door with shackles in his hands, eyes automatically drawn to the pale, still body lying before him. "Good lord," he managed, "Master Dick…"

Sensing the question, but not having an answer, Batman stayed quiet. Both men leaned over the teenager, hoping for some sign of life. So suddenly it caused them both to jump, Robin's eyes flew open and he gasped for air, causing a coughing fit that brought out most of the sea water. When he had calmed, Robin tried to focus on where he was, his blood red eyes searching the cave. He tried to sit up, but was overcome by pain from his burns, so decided to lay still instead. His gaze landed on Alfred, who had stepped back from the bed, then immediately darted to Batman. "B-Bruce?"

Batman had set the computer to searching for an answer when he'd left to retrieve Robin, so by the time they returned to the Batcave, a printout was waiting for him. "Stay still," he commanded as he scanned the information in the paper.

"What…happened? How did I get here?" Robin was again attempting to sit up, gritting his teeth against the pain. "It didn't work?" The enormity of what he had just experienced and the fact that it had failed came crashing down on the young man, and he doubled his effort to sit, hoping to at least retain his dignity.

Alfred knew better than to hold him down, but approached Robin anyway. "Don't worry, Master Dick, we've faced difficult adversaries before."

By that time, Robin had forced himself into an upright position, swinging his legs around so he was sitting on the edge of the med bed. "Not like this, Al." He grunted as some ribs dislodged by his impact with the water popped themselves back in place. Examining his skin, he was surprised to find that most of it had knitted over the burned muscle and was continuing to heal rapidly. His stomach growled audibly, which only brought his hunger into focus. Doing his best to ignore the needs of his body, he gingerly stepped down, testing to see if his legs would support his weight. When he had regained his balance, he looked up at Batman.

He had placed the sheet of paper on the console of the Batcomputer and taken the shackles from his butler. "You must remain here until the blood moon passes." Batman looked behind Robin, prompting the younger man to look as well. There hung a metal cage, suspended five feet off the floor. There were not bars but metal fencing with holes too small for a snake to fit through and too hard for a wolf to chew through. Robin followed the cables up to the ceiling of the cave where a high powered generator rested, ready to create a charge too powerful for even a spider to slip through.

"I understand," stated the boy wonder, holding his hands behind his back calmly. While Batman shackled him, Robin felt a new hope bloom in his heart. If he could just make it through the following night, he might be okay. After he was boosted into the cage, Batman took a long look at his pseudo-son. Robin knew this was at least a little bit hard on him, so he offered all he could, "Thanks, Bruce." With that, the power was switched on and the boy wonder was very careful just to lay down in the middle of the cage, not touching any of the sides.

As the day had just started, Robin fell asleep, his badly damaged body desperately needing the time to heal. While he slumbered, a voice began to call to him, just as it had before. In his unconsciousness, he didn't sense it at first, but it swayed his dreams, at first causing breathtaking fantasies. They were so realistic that Robin could actually believe that life was back to normal, that he was living with the Titans and keeping Jump City safe. As the calling in his mind became more incessant, his dreams turned sour, making him relive the moments that disturbed him the most, feeding on his friends. By the time dusk had fallen, his dreams had become night terrors, eliciting moans and restlessness from the boy wonder. Alfred watched him move in the cage again and sighed. They were almost out of the woods.

Again seeing himself collect the Titans' hearts, Robin bolted awake, accidentally touching one of the sides of the cage. He yelped as the high voltage burned his skin and quickly scooched back into the center of the cage, nauseated by not only the dream and the burn, but by the movement of the cage as it swung with his restlessness. His arms and shoulders were sore from being so tightly restrained behind him, and he hadn't fed since he'd almost died in the dawn. His dizziness was getting worse.

Bruce had joined Alfred in keeping an eye on their charge and stood very close to the cage, silently offering comfort through his proximity. A strange feeling washed over Robin as he tried to steady himself, as if he was separate from his body. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself, and when he looked up, Bruce had a Batarang in hand and Alfred had stepped back. It was then that Robin noticed his hands were out of the shackles and looked down to see why. Not his hands, but his paws. As a wolf, he involuntarily growled at Batman and clamped his fangs on the side of the cage.

He yelped when the electricity burned him again and changed into bat, letting his uniform fall to the floor. He flitted around the cage, again burning himself on the metal. Landing into a snake, he slithered right up to the bars and tried again, this time, his small body was thrown back into the cage. Regaining just a moment of control, Robin was himself, shouting, "Stop me!" before he again changed, this time into a grotesque spider. Rather than touch the cage, he spat powerful venom onto the metal, all the while hoping it wasn't corrosive enough to let him out. With no result, the spider stood on his rear four legs and hissed at the Dark Knight, dropping to the floor of the cage and not moving. Bruce waited a moment before leaning in, hoping he hadn't just killed his partner.

As soon as the Dark Knight was directly on the other side of the bars, the spider melted into a green mist and silently floated out of the cage. Batman barely had time to back away, shouting, "Alfred, look out!" before the mist enveloped them both. In a matter of minutes, Bruce Wayne and his butler were lying on the floor of the Batcave, still and pale. Having now fed, Robin was free to follow the voice in his head, turning into a bat and following the other chiroptera out of the cave and into the night. It wasn't too far to Jump City, where he was compelled to go to the sacred chalice and bring Krimjehf to life.

But first, he had errand to complete.


	8. Awakening

**Sick**

_Chapter Eight - Awakening_

The full moon rose high above the vampire bat, the lunar eclipse merely an hour away, and Robin had no control of his body. He could see himself flying, he knew where he was going, but he was helpless to stop it, like his consciousness was padded by cotton. After all that had happened in the Batcave, he had come to accept the fact that he wouldn't live through the night, but began to panic when his bat body veered off course and headed for Titan tower. He had forgotten that according to the prophesy, he had to take the magics surrounding him into himself, _then_ spill his blood. That meant he was going to fetch the Titans. He knew by now that struggling against his body was useless, so he put all his effort into reaching out with his mind, he had to warn them he was coming.

Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire had all gathered in the main room sedately, it was dinner time. No one spoke a single word or took their eyes from their chores, going about the task of making food automatically, silently and efficiently. Each knew they were still in shock, everything had happened so quickly. It was only three days before then that Robin had caught that cold, and now, the team had lost a young, vibrant leader who had given his all for them. Sometimes, loved ones were comforted by the fact the one they lost had died too quickly to know what was happening, or had died painlessly in their sleep, but this was not the case with Robin.

Not only did he have to die by his own hand, but he'd had no choice. No burglar broke in and killed him during the theft, Robin had not died while saving an innocent, he had literally burned to death, just a small taste of his searing pain passed to each of them as their last memory of him. Some of the Titans were angry, it wasn't fair that someone so good should be forced to kill himself in such a terrible way, another had lost hope that good could ever prevail over evil. And still another knew that she would probably never speak again, she was filled with such grief, hatred, loss and longing that if she opened her mouth, her uncontrolled power would destroy them all.

When the meal had been prepared, it was laid out on the table. They had purposefully avoided waffles, Robin had liked them too much. A simple meal of burgers and a bowl of Starfire's pudding of sadness sat on the table, untouched. Not a single bite was eaten, because none of them could stomach the horrible memory of Robin burning to death, let alone food. They sat in silence, eyes on their plates, blanketed by sorrow. Then, as one, their heads snapped up, eyes wide. Robin had reached them. Standing up fast enough for chairs to go clattering across the floor, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg turned toward the living room doors just in time for Robin to walk through in a clean uniform.

There was a stunned silence for a moment as they stared at the boy they had seen die in flames and he said with a smirk, "You guys are gonna catch flies if you don't…"

His words were cut off as they rushed him, crushing him in a group hug. "Robin! You're alive!" "You are unharmed!" "Dude, you're back!" The Titans were all talking at once, tears of relief and laughter radiating off them.

He climbed out from pile of his friends and faced them, his mood turning serious. "I have to go…I-I can't seem to control what I'm doing, so I wanted to see you guys one more time before I go." Inside, Robin was screaming that this wasn't true, he knew they had to accompany him to their deaths. The master was being very clever indeed, making him seem like himself when he really wasn't in control at all.

"Where do you have to go, friend Robin?" Starfire asked in the most innocent and piteous voice possible.

Robin could feel the master vampire practically salivate at the thought of taking her. The master made Robin's voice speak, attempting to seem normal, "It's not important. I'll be seeing you all again, I promise." With that, his body was compelled to leave the room, senses reaching out to make sure they followed. Both Robin and the master vampire knew that they would wait until he was gone, then go after him, exactly as they were supposed to. Robin wanted to give them some sign, anything that would alert them to the danger. He pushed as hard as he could against the mind control and actually caused his body to stumble.

From then on, the master kept him tightly under wraps, there were to be no more interruptions to the Awakening ceremony. The other Titans watched him walk out of the tower, turn into a bat, leaving his clothes behind again and take flight toward the south end of the city. Beast Boy and Raven exchanged looks, he could smell the fear Robin was exuding and she felt the push from his true mind. Not wanting to give the game away, they didn't tell the other Titans. If the master could read thoughts, then he would surely know what they were up to.

Robin battled the will of the master vampire, feeling a little give as he got closer to where the sacred chalice was kept. When he landed and morphed back into a humanoid, he was naked again, the runes on his body glowing painfully blue. Before him was a decrepit old building, no lights in the windows and no sign of life. He took one step forward and a vampire in a black cloak approached carrying a white silken ceremonial robe. She placed it on his shoulders and slunk back into the shadows; he was now wearing the same garment Krimjehf's ashes had been buried in over two thousand years ago. He could feel dark power emanating from it.

High in the night sky, the full moon was nearly three-quarters darkened by the shadow of the earth, and already it was beginning to carry a red tint. Looking at the moon caused Robin's blood to surge, vampires were particularly vulnerable to bloodlust during eclipses. The robe around him seemed to flare slightly brighter white for a moment, the ancient garment carrying the spirit of Krimjehf and anticipating his rebirth. Pulling his eyes from the mesmerizing sight, Robin felt himself being pulled toward the condemned structure.

Before he could stop himself, his body passed through the doorway, into the building and down a flight of stairs. At the bottom was a group of at least fifty vampires, all in black robes and carrying sleeping infants. Through his sudden nausea, Robin realized the children were to be offered to Krimjehf as his fist meal in two millennia. They began to hiss for him the same way they had hissed for the master during his initiation, bowing to their Chosen One and parting so he could pass, leading him right up to the same master vampire in red.

Fighting himself the whole way, Robin calmly walked up to him and dropped to one knee, exposing the mark on the back of his neck. The master again bit his own finger and smeared the blood across the mark. Instead of the pain he was expecting, Robin was filled with pleasure. He gasped in his kneeling position, surprised at the arousal surging through him. That was the final summoning, according to what Batman had told him. If the Chosen One felt pleasure when touched by the master, he had fulfilled his duties, done all he should and had come to sacrifice himself for Krimjehf. The master smiled as Robin stood, turning toward a great bowl carved into a black pillar. It was made of obsidian, big enough for him to lay in, with the same runes that were carved in Robin's skin carved on the inside of the bowl. As he approached it, he knew it to be the sacred chalice, the place of his death.

He was grateful he had been able to let his friends know not to follow, he could only hope Beast Boy and Raven had been able to convince the others to stay behind. The master stood directly behind him and spoke for the first time, "Fortunately, your little friends followed anyway." Robin's hopes were crushed as the master read his mind and commanded the vampires on the other side of the chalice to part. They revealed all four of the Teen Titans with their hands tied behind their backs and blank looks on their faces, completely under his control. All hope fled from Robin's heart.

"Yessss," hissed the master, leaning down to smell Robin's fear, "the Chosen One must be in despair for Lord Krimjehf to awaken strong." Indeed, Robin knew there was no way to change the prophesy now, so he succumbed to the dark depths of hopelessness, the despair freezing his heart and emotions. After trying everything he could think of, including destroying himself, he had still ended up right where they'd wanted him. No cage could keep him and apparently he was supposed to fail at suicide as well. He had be come the exact automaton the final summoning had foreseen. "Now go and feed, Chosen One, the blood moon has risen." Through a window, he could see the dark, red moon, fully eclipsed.

With only a little prompting, Robin stepped forward, reaching for the closest Titan. Raven compliantly tilted her head back, not resisting in the slightest. As soon as Robin's teeth broke her skin, her trap sprung. Dark magic raced though him briefly, too quickly for anyone to notice, and purged the master's control from his body. Robin's eyes glowed black for a moment as Raven's magic filled him with their plan. They were not under the master's control after all! Her magic was masking their free wills and guiding each of them in how to act so as not to give the game away.

She herself was part demon, so understood the sheer evil of the vampires, and could easily hide her castings among them. In fact, she was probably more dangerous than all of them combined, but she kept a tight reign on her emotions for a reason. She could easily revert to what her father had become, controlling everything with her fearsome spells, inflicting pain and suffering, and enjoying it the whole way. She had often asked herself if she was really evil, if she had a heart of darkness under all her self-control. While she'd never found an answer, the darkness inside her served her well, especially at that moment.

The plan was for Robin to drink enough from each of them to strengthen himself, but gently enough to allow Raven's power to fake their deaths. When Robin was finished with them, it was to be up to him from there on out, Raven and the others would be in a deep trance to conceal their life energy. He would have to find the weakness of the master and exploit it, using his own power to bring him down. Robin was a little nervous, but hopeful. He had not been able to even crack the mind control of the master yet, and he had a strange, sinking feeling that he would have to duke it out with him, physically fighting a creature over ten centuries old. Taking a deep breath, Robin moved forward with his mission.

The vampires all hissed in approval when he pulled his fangs from the dark witch, enjoying his sorrow at the death of his friend. The surrounding vampires forced the half man half robot to his knees so the Chosen One could drink more easily, and hissed again when the cybernetic half went dark with death. It was obvious the Chosen One was still fighting the master's control, especially when he knelt to drink from the alien girl's side, tears were streaming down his face even though he continued to feed. By the time he had finished with the green changeling, his will had broken, and he compliantly knelt before the sacred chalice, face wet with tears.

The master approached, carrying an ornate dagger in the shape of a fang. "The time has come, my fellow children, to awaken our Lord Krimjehf!" The vampires shouted in support, the babies in their arms remaining asleep because of the sedation spells placed on them. "The Chosen One has become as was foreseen, and through him, we will make the world ours!" Again, cheers broke out, some vampires held the children up in offering. The master knelt next to Robin, lighting the symbols on his body with magic and consequently, pain.

The Chosen One was required to spill his own blood, so the master handed the dagger to Robin, planting a firm compliance spell in his mind. So firm, in fact, that Robin was having a hard time resisting. His body had been his ever since Raven had cleared him, but now, it seemed as if he was locked in a cage while his body moved without on its own. The symbols carved into his skin controlled him, trapping him. He watched in terror as his hands raised the dagger before his chest, tilting his head back and chanting in a language he didn't know. As hard as he has ever fought for anything, Robin battled the master's mind control.

As he pulled the knife toward his chest, Robin managed to break the spell enough to deviate the path of the dagger, firmly embedding it in the master's chest beside him. The vampire shrieked like a banshee as the magic blade burned him, causing the symbols on Robin's skin to burn brightly. The boy wonder doubled over in pain, both from his skin and from the attack on his mind. The master yanked out the dagger and turned on the teenager. Robin was in too involved in his internal battle to do anything other than hold his head, so he didn't respond to the master looming over him. "HOW DARE YOU?!" he raged as he brought the dagger down.

Just before the metal could contact trembling teen, it was stopped by a bubble of black magic that held his hand motionless. His head whipped toward the source and he was shocked to see the Titans alive and well, surrounded by the bodies of ten or twelve slain vampires. Floating to the ceiling, Starfire rained star bolts into the crowd, careful to strike only the undead, not the entranced children. Cyborg fired his sonic canon at the master from point blank range, pushing him back a few feet. A scream was pulled from Robin as the master took the hit, they were bound, so Cyborg held off.

Robin caught his breath and looked up at the master. He had a sanctimonious smirk that meant he knew that hurting him was hurting Robin. "Cyborg, Raven…kill him!" Robin shouted at the top of his lungs, "Don't worry about me!"

Before any of them could react, Beast Boy crashed into the master from behind in the form of an elk, spearing the vampire on his horns. The green cervidae lifted him bodily and tossed him into the black bowl, following to trample him as a Clydesdale, sharp, heavy hooves tearing him apart. The symbols rimming the bowl lit up with magic at contact with blood, and Beast Boy jumped out barely in time to avoid being enveloped in an unearthly blue fire.

Robin screamed again, his own symbols bright as well, and collapsed to his hands and knees, in too much pain to stay upright. Inside the sacred chalice, the master shrieked and began to bubble, boiling with the force of Krimjehf's coming. A black hole opened in the bottom of the bowl, bringing forth a dark creature of smoke with terrifying red eyes. The vampire god opened it's grotesque maw and consumed the trampled master without hesitation. As soon as it had taken him in, something went wrong. It roared and thrashed; ingesting another than the Chosen One had hurt it; and the smoke began to swirl.

Any remaining vampires in the room, including Robin, faced the god and dropped to their knees, crying out in pain as their god died before them. Letting out a final ear-splitting roar, Krimjehf was pulled back into the hole it had come from, the last wisps of smoke dispersing. There was a momentary pause before the Titans burst into a cheer and all the babies started crying, suddenly released from the sedation spells. The vampires were lying on the floor, panting as their lives drained slowly away. Now that their god had perished, they were soon to follow. The Titans surrounded Robin when they noticed that he too, was dying.

"No! Not now!" Cyborg clenched his fists in anger, "Not after all we just did!"

The boy wonder laid flat on the smooth stone, his spiked black hair in sharp contrast to the blood-stained white robe he wore. He was breathing evenly now, completely pain free for the first time since he had been turned. He looked at his friends with red eyes, the vampire part of his body trying to stay alive. The blood moon was about to end, and he knew when the eclipse was over, the vampires' lives would cease too. None of them knew it, but vampires all over the city had collapsed, some in the street, some in their homes, but all dying. Robin smiled faintly when Starfire picked up his hand.

"You did it…n-nice work, T-Titans," the young crime fighter managed.

"Oh, no! You cannot go, friend Robin!" Beast Boy placed a hand on the alien's back as she continued, "You must try my bread of victory! A true Tammaranian treat…" Her words trailed off as she accepted reality. After everything he'd endured, Robin was going to leave them after all.

He looked at each of them with his red eyes, and smiled weakly. The children all stopped crying at once, Robin had used his new found master's power to fill them with comforting thoughts. "It's been a r-real honor…," Beast Boy was already shaking his head in denial, "…and p-pleasure to…have known y-you guys." Raven looked out the window, as the blood moon darkened before moving out of the earth's shadow, so did Robin's eyes. On impulse, she reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder, pouring her feelings into the touch. The others followed suit, at a loss for any other way to ease his passage. Robin smiled again, and closed his eyes.

A harsh, male voice shouted, "Move aside!" Before they could even turn to look for the source, a pale object landed in their midst. They scattered involuntarily as a bright white light completely covered Robin, momentarily blinding them. When they could see again, the Titans were a little more than surprised to find Batman kneeling beside their friend.

Raven peered over the Dark Knight's shoulder at the pale object. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked, not daring to let hope enter her voice.

"A Daystone," was his only reply.

"What does that mean?" Beast Boy asked, in awe of the legendary crime fighter.

Raven answered for him, "It will absorb the vampireness from Robin…if it got here in time. I didn't think any more existed." Legend had it that a vampire could be reverted to a human by a Daystone, but only if done in the light of the waning blood moon. Batman had placed the opalescent white stone over Robin's heart and pinned him to the floor. When Zatana had given it to him, she had warned him about the violent reaction.

As the eclipsed moon reached the last moments before sun shone on it again, it flared red, activating the Daystone. Robin sucked air through his teeth as his undead body was brought back to life, holding back the urge to fight the change. The white stone began to change color as it imparted new life onto the boy wonder, absorbing more and more red. Robin arched against Batman's restraining hold, finally crying out as his heart restarted. The Daystone flashed bright red, now holding all the evil magic that had made Robin a vampire, and broke into pieces. A Daystone could only be used once.

The question was…had it worked?


	9. Return

**Sick**

_Chapter Nine - Return_

The Titans held their breath waiting for Robin to respond. His color had returned to normal and Batman could feel a heartbeat, but Robin did not move or open his eyes. The amount of stress he had suffered over the last few days, to his body and his mind, may have taken its toll. The young crime fighter had been pushed to his breaking point and beyond, had died twice, caught on fire, been fed from and linked to a master vampire, and had stood up much longer than any other normal human would have. His body could not live without his will, and perhaps it had finally been broken.

Batman leaned over his partner when he noticed no autonomic function movement and found that the boy wonder had stopped breathing. He tilted his head back, pinched his nose and placed his lips over Robin's, breathing into the younger man. He filled his lungs three times and stayed low to listen. When he did not respond, Batman continued with his rescue breaths. Starfire was trembling against Beast Boy and Cyborg stood behind Raven with both hands on her shoulders. None of them moved as they watched the scene, dread or despair began to fill each of them as Batman continued and Robin laid still.

After a few more minutes, Batman sat back on his haunches, panting. Behind them, the moon was half illuminated by the sun's light. The Dark Knight faced them to pronounce the bad news when Robin suddenly drew in a huge breath, coming to consciousness at the same time. He blinked a couple of times and sat bolt upright, staring around. Each of them was overjoyed to see sparkling cerulean eyes surveying them. A cheer broke out among the teens and they rushed him, again crushing him in a group hug. Seeing his friends around him and his mentor by his side, Robin threw back his head and laughed, the carefree sound filling the room. It was finally over.

Batman stood, helping Robin to his feet, and clapped the younger man on the shoulder. "Welcome back."

Grinning broadly, he shook the Dark Knight's hand, "Thank you…for everything." Robin took a deep breath and looked around, the children were awake but not crying, and the vampire bodies had all turned to dust when the moon had emerged from the Earth's shadow.

Beast Boy's ear twitched at the approaching sirens, and he smiled. "Dude! You must be starving after all that! How about…"

"Waffles!" Starfire interrupted clapping her hands, stealing a little of Beast Boy's thunder.

"Boo yah, baby!" Everyone laughed at Cyborg's trademark phrase.

"Batman, you are welcome to -" Raven's words stopped as she realized she was talking to empty air. She faced Robin, "Does he always do that?"

"Yes, actually. Let's go home."

By the time they returned to the tower, the sun had risen. Robin hadn't eaten anything in four days, so he finished three plates of waffles by himself, laughing and joking with his relieved friends the whole time. He also hadn't slept in as many days, so as soon as his belly was full, he headed straight for bed. At first, he fell into a sleep deprived coma, completely still and dead to the world, but after ten or twelve hours, the began to toss and turn. He had been through a tremendous ordeal and now that his body had healed, it was time for his mind to start recovering.

The next morning, Beast Boy woke before the sun rose, as usual, and stretched as a cat, anchoring his paws in the carpet with his claws and pulling on his sleepy muscles. Then, still in his normal routine, he morphed into a Kentucky Red rooster and flew up onto the roof, ready to herald the new day with his crow. The sky was ablaze with brilliant reds and oranges, and everything was calm, as if the city was holding its breath in anticipation. The sun broke the horizon, setting the water in the bay glittering, and filling the world with warmth. The bird filled his lings, but before he could open his beak, he noticed that someone else was also on the roof. After a moment, he changed into a butterfly and fluttered back downstairs.

Robin and Raven sat side by side, watching the sunrise.

_The End_


End file.
